Location and wine-growing region
Immenstaad is a municipality on the shore of Lake Constance in the Bodenseekreis district in Baden-Württemberg and lies on the southern boundary of the district. The town is located at the eastern end of the roughly 20-kilometre-long wine-growing zone on the south-facing slopes of the northern Lake Constance shore, which extend from Überlingen to Immenstaad. Immenstaad is therefore part of the Lake Constance wine-growing region in Baden.
Climate and soils
Lake Constance acts as a heat store and moderates the temperature differences between day and night as well as between summer and winter. The wine-growing area is characterised by a long mild autumn and a long frost-free growing season. The soils formed from glacial deposits; near the lake, weathered soils over freshwater molasse occur, which are locally overlaid by ice-age moraine gravel.
Grape varieties and wine law
Plantings of Müller-Thurgau and Blauer Spätburgunder from 1972 are documented for the Immenstaad–Kippenhausen area. Spätburgunder and Müller-Thurgau are regarded as the most important grape varieties of the Baden Lake Constance sub-region. In Baden, Müller-Thurgau is associated with light wines, a subtle note of muscat, a youthful freshness and mild to moderately developed acidity. The Baden wine-growing region is assigned to the EU wine-growing zone B and is therefore subject to higher minimum requirements for must weight than cooler German wine-growing zones.
The official vineyard register assigns certain parcels in the cadastral districts of Immenstaad and Kippenhausen to the single vineyard Burgstall as well as to the large site Sonnenufer.
History and cultivation
For many centuries, winegrowing formed an important economic basis for the local population. Historical records show vineyards and wine tithes in Immenstaad since at least 1293, 1336 and 1371; a reference to a wine press also dates from 1336. According to a local historical account, modern vineyards are cultivated with wide row spacings to ensure good exposure to light and permanent ground cover to reduce erosion and to supply organic matter. Wines from Immenstaad holdings were supplied to the cooperative winery Hagnau and marketed under the names Hagnauer Burgstall or Sonnenufer.
